The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to the integration of system management services with an underlying system object model.
In order for system management functions to properly perform their intended roles, the functions must be able to monitor the internal state of components that they manage. Conventional systems have not had access to the internal state of managed components. As a result, it has often been difficult for conventional systems to properly manage the components. Certain conventional systems have attempted to increase access to information concerning managed components by adding a separate framework and access technique for the internal state information. Such conventional systems, however, have not made the internal state information generally available through standard user-visible system interfaces and human interfaces.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a distributed system having at least one memory device and processors for running processes. In this method, the internal state of a managed component is represented as an object in one of the memory devices. The object is visible to the processes on the processors. The object is then accessed on behalf of one of the processes to obtain the internal state of the managed component.
The managed component may be partitioned into a single subcomponent or into multiple subcomponents. Each of the subcomponents has an internal state. Furthermore, the method may include the additional step of encapsulating the object into a container object for the component. The container object is stored in one of the memory devices and is visible to processes run on the processor. The method is adaptable to use with multiple components to be managed. A system management object may be stored in the memory devices. The system management object manages the managed component.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a distributed system includes memory devices and processors for running processes. The distributed system also includes a component to be managed that has an internal state. The distributed system includes a means for storing the internal state of the component in the memory device as an object. The distributed system further includes a means for making the object accessible by the processes run on the processors.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced on a distributed system having a remote procedure call facility, a first data processing system and a second data processing system. The first data processing system includes a processor running a process. The second data processing system includes a component having a state and a memory device. In this method, an object is stored in the memory device of the second data processing system. The object holds the state of the component. The process running on the processor of the first data processing system requests access to the state of the component that is held in the object. In response to the request, a remote procedure call is performed using the remote procedure call facility to gain access by the process to the information about the state of the component held in the object.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a distributed system having storage devices for storing objects having names, processors running programs having states and an operating system. The operating system includes a name service which provides a global name space for the names of objects stored in the storage devices. In this method, a variable is declared in a program to be a variable whose value is available in the global name space. The program is run on one of the processors so that the variable is assigned a value, and the value is stored in the object that is visible in the global name space. The variable may be a counter that is incremented in predetermined quantities, a meter whose value varies over a predetermined range or any other variable that holds state information about the program.
In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a distributed system having data processing resources and at least one memory device. In this method, the data processing resources, which may include hardware components and/or software components, are modeled as objects with names. The named objects are stored in the memory device. System management objects having names are also stored in the memory device. The system management objects are used to manage the data processing resources.